From the speech I gave at the National Energy Board Hearings on the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline in August, 2016…

I’ve dedicated the last few years to learning about the Southern Resident orcas – this is the most iconic ecotype of BC’s most iconic species – the orcas who survive almost entirely on a diet of Chinook salmon found in the Salish Sea.

The first ever killer whale displayed in captivity, Moby Doll, was a Southern Resident. The original Shamu was a Southern Resident.

Granny, the 105-year-old matriarch of J-Pod, is a Southern Resident.

There are currently 82 Southern Residents in the wild and one – Lolita or Tokitae – at the Seaquarium in Florida.

When the National Energy Board released its report on this pipeline expansion my first question was: “what does this means for the Southern Residents?”

To the National Energy Board’s credit, that question was answered. Basically, the answer is extinction.